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Xbox One Vs. PS4: The Top 10 Next-Gen Video Games

The following games are all next-gen only releases (though some launch on the perennial next-gen platform we call PC.)

I’ll write up a separate post about the best-looking cross-generation games in the near future. Likewise, these are all big releases; I’ll tackle next-gen indies in a separate post.

I’ve only included titles we have some information about—more than just scraps and hints, at least. Games like Halo 5, have nothing more than a brief trailer and a name so they don’t make the cut.

And we’re sticking with games that will either launch with the new systems or come out in 2014.

Now, without further ado….

Dead Rising 3 (Xbox One)

Capcom Vancouver’s zany zombie game looks like a lot of fun—though it risks falling into the Saints Row IV trap: Going full crazy.

I’m all for a wacky zombie sandbox game, though, full of makeshift weapons and modded out vehicles, and Dead Rising 3 looks like a marvelous diversion. I just hope it can transcend novelty and sustain the fun factor.

One way or another, there’s something to be said for an open-world zombie game that allows you to fight zombies with lightsabers while decked out in a full suit of armor.

Also: giant teddy bears.

Release Date: November 22nd, 2013

Killzone Shadow Fall (PS4)

Killzone: Shadow Fall looks stunning, as graphically lovely as any next-gen title we’ve seen so far.

While I do think the franchise as a whole needs more than just prettier graphics—some likable characters and a better story would be a good start—the game looks like a great introduction to the next generation PS4.

Perhaps the most creative game coming out for the Xbox One—and indeed, one of the more promising titles on any next-gen system—Project Spark is a world-building fantasy game. Players can quickly and easily shape their own worlds, populate them with fantastical enemies, and then do glorious battle.

It looks like something I could get lost in for hours. Microsoft is touting its integration with SmartGlass and Kinect, but I’m mostly interested in the potential to shape my own fantasy land. Hopefully the game mechanics outside of world crafting are good enough to make that part of the game as fun.

The really exciting thing about the game is the potential to use it as your own game creator. Some users have already created games like this JRPG.

Release Date: 2014

Knack (PS4)

Mark Cerny must be a very busy man. As if designing the PlayStation 4 wasn’t enough, Cerny helmed the development team on Knack.

Knack is a mere three feet tall, but using powerful relics he can “transform into a powerful brute or even a gigantic wrecking machine.”

You can basically guarantee that the game will be amazing. Cerny’s previous work includes Spyro, Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank, just to name a few. Cerny describes the game as ”a little bit like Crash Bandicoot and Katamari Damacy, with a touch of God of War.”

Release Date: November 15th, 2013

The Crew (Xbox One, PS4, PC)

Instead of Forza 5 or DriveClub, I’m giving The Crew the driving game spot in this list.

The Crew has both single- and multi-player elements, but the neat thing about this driving game is that it’s a giant, open and persistent world with no load screens.

Players can drive across (a greatly condensed version of) the United States, and race in “crews” against other racers. The single-player campaign is around 20 hours long.

The whole thing has crime and roleplaying elements, and sounds like it could be a pretty innovative break from a lot of other racing games out there.

Release Date: Q1 2014

The Order: 1886 (PS4)

The Order: 1886 has me absolutely intrigued. The PS4 exclusive appears to be a Victorian steampunk-esque title, with a healthy dose of Arthurian legend and horror elements thrown into the mix. (The announcement trailer opens with a quote from Le Morte de Arthur and one of the characters is referred to as Galahad.)

While scant details have emerged, Game Informer’s latest cover story says The Order: 1886 “boasts the most stunning in-game visuals we’ve seen.”

The Game Informer story also notes that the original announcement trailer, which looks very much like a CG video, is actually exactly what the game itself looks like in play, with some cinematic camera angles thrown in for good measure.

That’s bloody impressive.

Release Date: 2014

Infamous: Second Son (PS4)

Infamous: Second Son casts y as a superhero in a society where superheroes are feared and hunted down by an oppressive government. It takes place seven years after the events of Infamous 2.

Of course, anyone who has watched movies or read comic books for the past couple decades will recognize this as a tried and true concept. The fear of the “other” and especially the “super-other” is a fear we can all tap into, after all.

It may be an old theme, but the ability to unleash super powers on the PlayStation 4 while attempting to avoid capture by the nefarious Department of Unified Protection sounds pretty great to me. Add in the open-world and parkour, and I’m in.

Release Date: February 2014

Tom Clancy’s The Division (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

The Division sounds pretty neat. It’s a persistent online game that casts players as agents in The Division out to save what remains of a world devastated by a mysterious pandemic.

Players can drop in and out of co-op games, take on other players in PvP, make player trades, and do various other MMO-like stuff, all in a third-person action/shooter.

From what I’ve seen of the game so far, it looks pretty outstanding, at least in terms of graphics. I’m very curious to see how the typical tactics-focused Tom Clancy game translates to this sort of open-world multiplayer experience.

For now, it’s a next-gen only title but Ubisoft hasn’t ruled out a possible current-gen release.

Following an accident with a time machine, the main characters in the game are imbued with time-related powers. They then set off to find out what’s going wrong with the world, as time itself appears to be horribly broken. Players use a time-freezing mechanic to decipher clues.

The hook—the really weird, hard to figure hook—is the game’s mixture of live-action sequences and computer graphics. Different “episodes” play during the game based on what choices characters make, and these are actual filmed scenes. That sounds off-putting, quite frankly, but I’m no less intrigued. Mixed media can be a delicate balancing act.

The team behind the game includes developers who worked on the original Max Payne and Alan Wake games.

Release Date: TBA

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Last, but certainly not least, is CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The next-gen game builds on the story of the previous two, and brings the video game trilogy of Geralt of Rivia to a close.

Unlike the past games, The Witcher 3 will be open-world with tons of narrative freedom and dozens of different possible endings. All told, when story and side quests are all added up, around 100 hours of time can be spent in the monster hunter’s shoes.

Anyone who played The Witcher 2 will be eyeing this one as hungrily as I am, especially since CDP has removed Quick Time Events and Geralt’s ungainly dodge-roll. A better combat system will hopefully make this one of the best RPGs we see next year (though it certainly has some serious competition.)

Release Date: 2014

For now, I’ve left off one game that has me both excited and morose: Deep Down. I want to be as excited about this game as I was when I first heard about it, but the combination of what appears to be an oddly muddling control system and an online-only, free-to-play design (and revenue model) has me worried more than anything. Worried enough to justify its exclusion from this list even while hoping that I’m wrong.

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Undoubtedly The Witcher 3 is the true next-gen most awaited game, which has no exclusivity and other non-sense, and something everyone can enjoy, as every game in true spirit should. Some other good looking ones as well, which I can’t wait for. I would consider Watch_Dogs a next-gen title too, though that doesn’t completely qualify as it’s coming out for this gen too. But dam, those PC spec requirements does make it close enough to one!

Second Son, Shadow Fall, and The Division are going to be Day 1 purchases for me, but my most anticipated next gen game is a game that’s already release and I’ve played nearly 200hrs worth…DCUO! New Unscaled HD textures, PS4 exclusive content, and new powers! Can’t wait!!

First off, that’s ridiculous. It hasn’t “all but been announced” at all, and I’m not even sure what that means. Regardless, as I say in the opening paragraphs I’m not including games with little to no details on this list. That includes a game like Halo 5 which already has a trailer—quite a lot more than the mythical Half-Life 3.